Container homes

A shipping container is fire and flood proof, which makes it perfect for being transformed into a container home.

Having a length of 20 to 30 feet, a shipping container (that could very easily transform into a container home) is used only for approximately 10 to 15 years, but they can last much much longer. There are almost 24 million empty shipping containers all over the world that will not be used for their main purpose ever again so, such retired shipping containers can turn into a high-end modular container home.

The outside walls of the Decameron Design Shop (Brazil) are just as colored and colorful as the neighborhood in which it can be found. The famous architect, Marcio Kogan, constructed a low-cost container home only using two rows of stacked containers, moving and placing the six containers near downtown. Sliding, translucent doors reveal a modicum of precuts along the walls, and, in order to isolate the office from the storefronts, Marcio Kogan realized a garden courtyard in the back of the property. It’s bold and vibrant, with a center lounge space which probably is more inviting than most living rooms.

Decorated with a terrace on the rooftop and a building time just under a year, Eco Design Studio’s desert container home is one of the very rare residences that represent a collaboration between a student and a designer. The mint-green habitat sports an industrial design, with a walnut finish and concrete floors, along with devices that collect solar power and harvest rainwater. An abundance of dual pane aluminum windows offer plenty natural sunlight year round, but what gives the home an astonishing view over the surrounding San Francisco Peaks are the five separate decks.

Architect Benjamin Garcia Saxe created a container home for only $40.000. It is made with two 40-foot (approximately 13 meters) shipping containers. The architect designed this home for a couple who’s desired was to build a country home that would not put them in debt. Natural sunlight is let in by the slanted roof, but this roof also gets rid of the hot air inside. Its location is 20 minutes outside San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, but just by looking at the pictures, you couldn’t tell that is anywhere near such a populated city of approximately two million people.

A bare 320 feet of space (approximately 97.53 meters) is really not that much to work with, unless, of course, you’re making a minimalist guest house in your own backyard. This private residence, built with the help of the local Texas architect Jim Poteet, offers a touch of luxury to a recycled shipping container that measures a narrow 8 feet wide (almost 2.45 meters) and 40 feet long (approximately 12.2 meters). The foundation of the building uses a swarm of recycled telephone poles, while the wall covering and the flooring feature repurposed bamboo. The roof of the navy-blue color crate offers some garden space, a fact that is making it more than just a simple space for housing people and storing tools.